The Unholy 2018 Dodge Challenger Demon will eat all of the souls

Let’s begin by saying, whoa, what a name. We’re so used to the Germans naming cars after fax machines, with just a combination of letters …

Let’s begin by saying, whoa, what a name. We’re so used to the Germans naming cars after fax machines, with just a combination of letters and numbers. But not the Americans. The newest tire-eating monster from Dodge’s SRT division is the new Dodge Challenger Demon and it will eat all of the souls. Literally, every single soul.

Dodge recently unveiled the Demon ahead of the NY Auto Show and then made quite a big spectacle today at the show. There’s a reason for its monstrous name and massive spectacle, though. It’s a monstrously powerful car. Although the Demon uses the same displacement 6.2 liter supercharged V8 as the Hellcat, the two share almost no components. Only the cylinder head is the same. Everything else is entirely new and design to withstand the brutal power. Running on 91 octane fuel, the Demon makes 808 hp and 717 lb-ft of torque, which is insanity. But the insanity intensifies further, with 100 octane race fuel, as the same engine can develop 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of torque.

With all of that monstrous power, the Demon is quite literally the fastest accelerating production car to 60 mph ever produced. That’s not a typo but it does come with an asterisk. With a prepped surface, 100 octane and drag radials, the Dodge Demon rockets to 60 mph in 2.1 seconds. Eat your heart out, Tesla Model S P100D. The Demon doesn’t need any fancy electric motors or all-wheel drive, just good ole fashioned ‘Merican horsepower. And a drag surface, of course.

The Demon is also significantly lighter than the Hellcat. But it wasn’t just its steady diet of beef and the souls of the damned that give the Dodge Demon its lower curb weight. Dodge ripped out not only the back seats but the front passenger seat as well. Although, they’re kind enough put both back for just $1 each. There’s also almost no sound deadening or NVH muting going on. So it’s going to be loud and violent on the inside. Oh, and it only comes with a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic. Not sure a clutch could handle 770 lb-ft of torque.

“The Demon Crate delivers what customers need to take the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon from the street to the drag strip and back again. This is a special, limited-production set of tools for the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon that includes this torque wrench.”

I also like how Dodge is offering a track pack for the Demon. So, when you buy the Demon, it comes in its “standard” 808 hp form with its standard wheels and tires. If you want to get it ready to murder drag strips, it can come with a tool kit such as an impact driver and torque wrench.

Following BMW, we get so used to sensible performance, cars that are fast and fun but in a calculated way. This Dodge Demon is a break from the numbers, logic and reason. It’s a welcomed delve into madness. Though, you could lose your soul to the Demon in the process.